Former President George W. Bush’s daughter Barbara Bush has donated $2,500 to a super PAC supporting Democrat James Talarico’s bid for the U.S. Senate in Texas. The contribution puts a member of one of America’s best-known Republican families among the donors helping the Democrat compete against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. Bush previously campaigned for Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election.
Talarico, a state representative from Austin, is seeking a Senate seat in the November midterms. Lone Star Rising PAC, the committee receiving Bush’s contribution, has spent millions supporting his candidacy and attacking Paxton. The group has also attracted substantial financial backing from LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman, whose contributions appeared in federal disclosures earlier this year.
Barbara is the daughter of former first lady Laura Bush and the granddaughter of former President George H.W. Bush. Her father served as president from 2001 to 2009. Although she comes from a family directly associated with Republican politics, she has previously described herself as unaffiliated with either major party and publicly supported Planned Parenthood.
According to Breitbart’s October 17th report, the contribution was dated September 23rd, 2026. The Austin American-Statesman covered the donation the previous day, citing Federal Election Commission information. The disclosure identified Bush as the contributor and Lone Star Rising PAC as the recipient, placing the money with the outside organization backing Talarico rather than his campaign committee.
Political attorney Andrew Cates discussed the disclosure with Houston Public Media’s Andrew Schneider in a report published by Texas Public Radio. Cates said the amount was small compared with the money flowing through the race, but suggested Bush’s identity could carry symbolic significance. He also pointed to Bush’s choice of a committee whose contributions are publicly disclosed: “She gave it to a PAC that reports all the money in and out.”
Hoffman’s support for the same organization included a $10 million contribution in June, according to Breitbart’s July reporting citing Bloomberg’s examination of federal filings. It was Lone Star Rising’s largest single donation during that reporting period. Hoffman had already supplied roughly $1.5 million to groups supporting Talarico. Talarico, meanwhile, has advocated banning super PACs and has pledged to reject corporate PAC contributions.
Watch the report on Barbara Bush’s 2024 support for Harris here:
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Bush’s involvement in Harris’s presidential campaign took her to Pennsylvania shortly before the 2024 election. She discussed the trip in an October 29th statement to People, saying, “I’m hopeful they’ll move our country forward and protect women’s rights.” Years earlier, in March 2017, she had spoken at a Planned Parenthood fundraiser. Her appearance there preceded her public campaigning for the Harris-Walz ticket by more than seven years.
Recent surveys have shown narrow margins between the Texas Senate candidates. Breitbart’s October 15th polling coverage cited an InsiderAdvantage survey putting Paxton at 49% and Talarico at 48%. The poll surveyed 1,200 likely voters and had a margin of error of ±2.83 percentage points. A separate Quantus Insights survey released that week put Paxton at 47.2% and Talarico at 46.7%. Early in-person voting in Texas begins October 19th.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.